Month: September 2016

Looking for information on language learning? Then you have come to the right place. Essentially, learning a new language need not be as hard as you assume. So long as you know a little about language learning and know which the easiest languages are, you should have an easy time.

According to a survey by the European Commission in 2012, 61% of British respondents cannot speak a 2nd language (http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf). This is surprising considering how the world is becoming more globalized and multi-cultural by the second. Getting by with one language, therefore, isn’t enough. Language learning has also been shown to help people earn more money by adding anywhere between 5 and 15% to their wages, while significantly expanding their career opportunities.

So, what are the easiest languages to learn? Consider the following:

Spanish

Writing: Easy

Grammar: Very Easy

Speaking: Very Easy

Overall: Very Easy

The great thing about Spanish pronunciations is that they are among the easiest to learn, especially for English speakers. Spanish also has a shallow orthographic depth. This means that most of its words are written as they are pronounced. As a result, writing and reading this language is pretty straightforward.

Whereas English has 20 diphthong and vowel sounds, Spanish only has 10. There are also no unfamiliar phonemes except for the letter ñ, which is fun to pronounce anyway. All of these work hand in hand to make Spanish the easiest for language learning. What is more, the language gives the best returns on investment since 37% of employers rate Spanish as critical for employment and career advancement (http://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/value-of-spanish-in-workplace).

Italian

Writing: Moderately Easy

Grammar: Easy

Speaking: Easy

Overall: Easy

Italian happens to be the most romantic of all romance languages. Most of its vocabulary is rooted in Latin, which translates to most similar English/Italian cognates – such as ambizioso (ambitious), calendario (calendar) and foresta (forest).

Like Spanish, most of its words are also written as they are pronounced. Additionally, Italian sentence structures are highly rhythmic, with most of its words ending in vowels. As a direct result, it adds musicality to the spoken languages and makes Italian pretty easy to understand and spunky to use.

French

Writing: Moderately Easy

Grammar: Moderate

Speaking: Moderate

Overall: Moderate

The known international language of love, French may initially appear to be different. However, linguists have estimated that it has actually influenced up to a 3rd of modern English.

This, perhaps, explains why its Latin derivations make most of French vocabulary familiar to Anglophones (like village, royal, and edifice). There are also more gendered nouns (la table and le crayon) and verb forms (which are 17 compared to 12 in English).

Still, French pronunciation can get difficult. This is especially because most of its silent letters and vowel sounds are not familiar to English speakers.

Portuguese

Writing: Moderate

Grammar: Moderate

Speaking: Moderate

Overall: Moderate

The Brazilian economy has been ranked 9th globally (http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/022415/worlds-top-10-economies.asp). This, among other factors, makes Portuguese a top contender for language learning. One of the great elements about the language I that its interrogatives are pretty easy since they are expressed by intonation alone (e.g. you like this?). Therefore, anything you can say in Portuguese can easily be turned into a question.

The main difficulty in pronouncing Portuguese words is in the nasal vowel sounds. This will require a bit of practice to get used to.

German

Writing: Moderate

Grammar: Moderate

Speaking: Difficult

Overall: Moderately Difficult

For many Anglophones, German is one of the more difficult of the languages to pick up in this list. Most of its words seem excessively long. Additionally, it comes with 4 noun case endings added to the rough pronunciation that will give your tongue a bit of a work out every time you try speaking the language.

Similarly, German is highly descriptive. A good example is how German-speakers use the noun by combining objects with the actions at hand. To this end, das Fernsehen refers to the television. Here, the words fern (far) and sehen (watching) literally translate to far watching.

On the other hand, it can be pretty fun for language learning. This is mostly on account of the fact that German’s use of grammar is considered quite logical. Most of its words also overlap with those in English. Still, you should watch out for the exceptions to the main grammar rules.

When all is said and done, Spanish is the easiest for language learning. Everything from speaking, grammar and writing will come more naturally to you. There are also similar structures, Latin roots and rules.

Bowhunting will challenge you to bring out your A-game. However, to succeed, you need a number of suitable bowhunting tips. These rules of thumb and basic tenets will form the foundation of knowledge required to help you:

– Find the right bow

– Shoot it like William Tell

– Slip into the bow range of more game than you ever thought possible

In the following section, you will find such rules. Although they are not meant to form a complete list, they will give you enough information to make this season the best one of your life yet.

So, without further ado, here are the top bowhunting tips to guide you:

Tune Your Equipment

Just because your bow’s pins are on does not necessarily mean that your bow is super-tuned. A field point will allow the arrow to correct itself midflight quickly. Once corrected, your bow’s shooting field points will be more accurate. So, what will happen when you attach a broadhead?

You might have notice that you need to adjust your single pin bow sight for the broadheads you are shooting. This happens because the bow might not have been tuned. As a direct result, your arrows will not fly as it would have after it has left the bow.

Even when you are using mechanical broadheads, you can be sure that they will catch the wind more than they catch a field point. This will slow down the ability of the arrow to correct itself. Therefore, when the arrow hits its target, it might still be fishtailing or porpoising depending on how it left the bow.

This happens because when the nock end of the arrow is out of line with the broadhead (at the point of impact), valuable kinetic energy will twang out of the arrow when it tries to penetrate through your quarry. It is for this specific reason that most hunters never seem to be able to get a pass through even with modern bows.

To fix this problem, you should tune your bow accordingly. After you set it up properly, paper tune it and walback tune it and it will serve you well.

Understand Your Quarry and Hunting Strategies

To succeed, one of the most important of all bowhunting tips will require that you study the quarry you are looking to shoot down. Knowing what the animals are thinking about and how they are likely to behave in specific situations will give you an advantage.

Consider befriending other hunters and learning the strategies they developed during their time in the field. You should also think about looking up such books as Strategies for Whitetail Deer Hunting and Mapping Trophy Whitetails.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

You should also get enough practice. One great way to do this is by shooting some 3D courses. Not only will this be good exercise during offseason, it is also one of the best ways to work on your yardage guesswork and estimation. It will also help you know how to deliver shots that really count. As you practice, convince yourself that every shot is the ultimate shot you have been waiting for.

Most of the 3D courses you practice on will also reveal to you how every decline and incline shot sends your arrow off its mark whenever you do not shoot properly. Over and above all, remember that practice always makes perfect.

Check out Google Earth

Embrace technology by always going onto Google Earth and understanding how it works. When the season is ripe, you can use this application to get the bird’s eye view of the lands that you are hunting.

Google Earth is amazing because it will allow you to zoom in on every detailed imagery you can think off. It will also help you when the time comes to pick the strategic spots to place your tree stand.

What most hunters don’t know is that when you zoom in, you can even see most of the deer trails as they are marked on the field. This way, you will be able to scout from the comfort of your smartphone or computer desk.

Scout Early

You should also scout your spots as early as possible – instead of waiting until the week just before the bowhunting season kicks off. Most people wait until the last minute before they start scouting their spots. Remember, deer tend to go on the alert whenever hunters start scouting before a season starts.

Instead, start in August and glass the fields. Put a couple of trail cameras all over the perimeter of the spot you intend to hunt and watch as you wait. After you locate the deer, move it and put up your stand. Then, clear the lanes and relocate the cameras to the tree stand sight.

Some weeks before the bowhunting season starts, collect the cards from the cameras and review them. You will automatically know where to go hunting when the season begins.

Go with the Wind

The wind is a vital part of understanding basic bowhunting tips. Now that you have a pretty good idea about the stands that will produce, don’t mess your chances by hunting with bad winds.

Interestingly whitetail deer has 200+ million scent receptors. This is why the wrong wind will make it difficult for you to get at this prize quarry. Instead, hunt smart by going with the right wind.

Use Tarsal Glands

The tarsal gland scent is the best attraction you can use. You will attract deer in droves as they try to get to your mock scrape and the tarsal juice you have sprayed on it.

Look Back

You should also use the hunters’ log you recorded in the last season. This will work perfectly especially if you were able to take a detailed bowhunting log in the previous season.

The information in the log will help you know:

– The stands that saw the greatest action

– The stands that produced more deer with certain temperatures and winds

After you have located common success factors, you will be able to increase your odds by knowing the right stand to hunt.

There are tons of other bowhunting tips out there. However, the above should go a long way in improving your chances this coming season. Go through each of these tips, and ensure you have mustered them before you start preparing for the coming action.

According to a survey conducted by DateWatchers.com, people are increasingly getting more comfortable with online dating. This is because online dating is both easy and fun, especially for those who know the tricks of the game.

Digital technology, in general, and smartphones, in particular, have transformed many aspects of modern society. They have changed how people are getting out there to look for and establish romantic relationships. When the Pew Research Center first researched online dating in 2005, few Americans had tried it out. However, today, 15% of adults in the U.S. report that they have used mobile dating apps or online dating websites.

Facts about Online Dating

Following below are some interesting facts behind online dating:

Positivity

Attitudes towards the activity continues to grow more positive. This is mostly on account of the fact that online dating has lost of the stigma people originally associated it with. In fact, most Americans today say that it is one of the best ways to meet people they would never otherwise have approached.

When online dating habits were first studied in 2005 by the Pew Research Center, most Americans had little to no exposure to dating online. Similarly, almost everyone who had tried it out thought of it as a subpar way to meet people.

This is no longer the case. Today, nearly half of the general public knows someone who dates online, or who met a partner or spouse on the internet. As such, attitudes towards dating on the internet has progressively grown more positive.

Of course, many people are still puzzled that someone would actually go online to find a romantic partner. Actually 23% Americans agree that people who use these websites are somewhat desperate. However, it is now becoming more culturally acceptable so to do than it was, say a decade or so ago.

Increased Popularity

In the same way, statistics behind online dating find that it has jumped steadily among adults aged 25 and below, as well as among those in their late 50s to early 60s. To this end, the share of people aged between 18 and 24 who are using online dating apps and websites has tripled roughly from 10% in 2013 to 27% today. The use of these apps and websites among people aged between 55 and 64 has also seen a substantial rise since the last survey that the Pew Research Center conducted on the topic. It is also interesting that in 2013 only 6% of people in the 55-64 age group had used online dating while this percentage has shot to 12% today.

One of the factors behind the substantial growth of the popularity of online dating among young adults is that they love using mobile dating apps. according to the same research, about one in five 18 to 24 year olds (22 percent) now report using these apps whereas only 5% reported doing so in 2013.

Physical Meetings

The research also found that 1/3 of the people who used online dating had never gone on an actual physical date with the interests they met on the apps and websites. Therefore, those who are yet to find what they are looking for on these sites should know that they are not alone.

66% of online daters say that they had gone on physical dates with people they met through dating apps and dating sites. This was a substantial increased from the 43% of these online daters who had progressed up to the stage when the question was first asked in 2005. Still, this means that 1/3 of online daters are yet to meet up with someone they found initially on a dating app/website.

Profile Help

Interestingly the Pew Research Center also found that 1 in 5 online daters had asked someone else to help with their profile. Most online daters enlist the help of friends in a bid to put their best foot forward, digitally speaking. Some 22% of these daters, as such, had asked for help from someone else to either create or to review their online dating profiles.

More particularly, the study uncovered the fact that women are more likely than men to enlist friends in helping them create the perfect profile. Only 16% of men had done this compared with 30% of female online daters.

Committed Relationships

55% of Americans in a committed relationship or in a marriage agree that they met their partner through the internet. In spite of the wealth of digital tools that today allow people to meet up with potential partners, and 1 out of 10 Americans using these platforms, most relationships begin offline.

Still, among Americans who have been with their partner or spouse for 5 years or less, 88% say that they actually met offline without the help of online dating.

How to Succeed at Online Dating

A sturdy has revealed that a playful screen name could make a world of difference between getting and not getting a date online. In the following sections, you will find some essential rules for finding love on the World Wide Web, based on online dating stats of course.

Today, online dating has become so popular that it is account for 1 in every 5 new relationships and 1 in 6 marriages. With so many potential partners communicating online, there seems to be certain particular unwritten rules to getting the activity right. A new study showed that compiling the perfect profile was key to finding the love of your life on the internet.

a) Names

Researchers at the Queen Mary University in London found that using playful screen names as well as starting with letters nearer to the beginning of the alphabet accounted for just as much as attractive photographs.

Further, the researchers found that names such negative connotations – like Bugg or Little – were often linked with inferiority. On the other hand, such light hearted screen names as Fun2bwith were more likely to result in actual physical dates.

According to the research, men were often more attracted to names that suggested physical appearance. These included names like Cutie and Blondie. Women, however, preferred names showing intelligence – such as Cultured.

Professor Khalid Khan, writing in the Evidence Based Medicine journal, advised people dating online that they had to be more positive and honest about themselves. He also stated that it would help everyone’s case if they were able to use humor to give the edge in finding the ideal partner.

b) Interests

In the same way, expressing an interest in certain hobbies appeals to prospective partners and matches. Men, for instance, were found to prefer physical fitness in women as gained through gym, aerobics and yoga. However, they were put off by mentions of body building and gym. Women, on the other hand, preferred courage, bravery, and a general willing to take risks. They were, however, put off by altruism and kindness.

Another separate study found that words such as the ocean, yoga and skiing helped men get more dates while women who used dance, running and sweet received more dates over the internet.

Some words also worked well for both sexes. These included words like electronics, Pulp Fiction, Homeland, The Great Gatsby and Liking Radiohead, as well as mentioning cats (without saying my cats).

Interestingly, men who referred to women as women or as females, rather than girls, were also more likely to find mates. This was also the case with men who used whom as a word (which resulted in 31% more communication online).

In the same way, smiley faces and emojis worked surprisingly well over the internet. So much so that those who used emojis were more likely to end up having more sex as a result of their online dating activities.

Dos and Don’ts of Online Dating

So, how do these online dating statistics come to play? And how can you improve your chances of finding a date and starting to go out with the people who have interested you on the dating apps, websites and platforms you have been using? Consider the following:

Online Dating DOs

i) Use a Photo

Research shows that profiles with real pictures received 16 times more responses than their counterparts without. However, the photos you use matter greatly. To this end, consider using photos taken in daylight using an SLR camera (and not using a smartphone). The photos should also focus on one person and not on a group. In the same way, summary photos have been found to work better than their wintery counterparts.

ii) Looking into the Camera

This only happens to women. According to a recent study, women who looked directly into the camera in the photo they used on their profile ended up receiving more positive responses especially in comparison to those who looked away. The interesting thing was that the opposite was true for men. Although the reasons behind this is not known, it might be likely that women prefer men who look brooding and distracted.

iii) Interesting Activities

Where possible, research finds that photos of online daters engaging in an interesting activity were highly likely to attract more people. These activities include, but are not limited to, playing an instrument, in an unusual location, or engaged in a sport. This is because such photos tend to create longer conversations by breaking the ice between people who have just met online.

iv) Sociable Interests

For success, you should consider including your most sociable interests on the profiles you have created on various online dating platforms. These interests received more hits than solitary passions. By including these interests, you would be able to show other people how they can fit into your life and world. For instance, if you love movies, mention the cinema and not how you just lost your entire weekend to binge watching Netflix.

v) Brief and Upbeat

Successful profiles were brief and upbeat. Deep and long write-ups were found to be a turn off. For ideas, imagine that you just met someone at a bar and you were talking to them – what words would you use to describe yourself and your overall lifestyle?

Over and above everything, remember that the University of Chicago found that marriages that started through online dating were 25% more likely to last and be a source of happiness than marriages that started in the more traditional and convectional of ways.

Online Dating DON’Ts

i) Use Flashy Photos

As far as possible, keep away from photos with a flash. Research shows that these kinds of photos age your face by 7 years. It goes without saying that you should not include group shots of your friends, alcohol, or a hurriedly photoshopped-out ex.

ii) Use Outdated Photos

If the photos on your online dating are older than 12 months, you need to update them. This is because one of the biggest reasons why first dates do not lead to second dates is unmet expectations.

iii) Mention Exes

When you mention your ex in your profile, you suggest that you are not yet ready to move on to a new relationship. Therefore, if you are separated or divorced with children, use the drop down menu to reveal this information.

iv) Write a Shopping List

Never mention that you are looking for a partner who is sociable, romantic, loyal, kind, intelligent, tall, and funny and so on. For readers, these kinds of profiles are incredibly daunting and dull to read. Instead, ask for company by stating that you would like to meet someone with whom to go exploring far-flung places.

The great thing about online dating, as you can see from the stats above, is that it actually works. Therefore, you should not be intimated by dos and don’ts lists like the one above.

To succeed, consider uploading a brief profile. Add a couple of really nice photos and get started with the fun. Later on, after seeing what other people have on their profiles, you can easily tweak yours up and make it more interesting. Research shows that updating your online dating profile regularly will keep you more active on the website. It will also lead to more positive matches. Therefore, you should always view your profile as a work in progress and not a completed online bio.

Conclusion

In conclusion, more people are going online to look for love. As a result, the art of dating is slowly but surely turning into a science. This is why so many data scientists are poring over the fleeting interactions happening on the internet. So long as you know what to do and what not to do, you will start becoming more successful and attracting more people through your online profiles. Whatever the case, you can be sure that online dating should work for you after you have put in the effort required.